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We recently visited WPHO’s new operation at Ishøj, near Copenhagen, providing a close-up view of WPHO’s notable progress as it moves up a gear on multiple levels, ranging from production to management and technology. WPHO is a global leader in wind turbine efficiency optimisation, with unique IP concentrated both on its innovative LIDAR systems and in its proprietary software. On the production front, capacity has already increased significantly as a result of the move to a larger site and has the potential for even more. In terms of management, the appointment of a new Finance Director has been followed by senior appointments focusing on the sales opportunity. The market potential remains very substantial, with demand globally for a retrofit solution. The balance sheet is strong (net cash approaching €5m at the half year following last year’s successful fund-raises) and recent newsflow has been positive, with contract wins serving to underpin progressive forecasts. We reiterate our 90p fair value assessment, which sits at a c.9% discount to our DCF assessment.
Windar Photonics Plc
15th September 2025 @HybridanLLP * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP. ** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) or similar announcement has been made. ***Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement. ****Alphabetically arranged and priced on Share Price and Market Capitalisation during the time of writing on the day of Publication. Dish of the day Admissions: None Delistings: Henderson International Income Trust (HINT.L) left the Main Market Whilst we were away Admissions: On Friday 12th Sep, Third Point Investors (MLHL.L) was re-admitted to the Main Market following a Reverse Takeover. Delistings: None What’s baking in the oven? Potential** Initial Public Offerings:*** 15th September: Project Glow Topco Limited, the ultimate holding company of The Beauty Tech Group Limited, a global leader in the rapidly growing at-home beauty technology market, has confirmed its intention to float on the Main Market. The Beauty Tech Group encompasses three distinct, innovative and premium beauty technology brands - CurrentBody Skin, ZIIP Beauty and Tria Laser - under which it develops, manufactures and retails at-home beauty devices. In FY24, the Group reported revenue of £101.1m and adjusted EBITDA of £22.9m. Between the financial period for the 16 months ended 31 January 2023 (FY22) and FY24, the Group's own-brand revenue and adjusted EBITDA grew at a compound annual growth rate of 73.6% and 92.9% respectively. Timing and deal details TBC. 12th August: B HODL has announced its application for Admission to the AQSE growth market. The Company is focused on generating low-risk, sustainable revenue through operational activities focused on the acquisition, accumulation, and management of Bitcoin. The Company’s initial business model centres around the operation of Lightning Network nodes, which generate revenue by charging fees for routing Bitcoin transactions. By leveraging the scalability and efficiency of the Lightning Network, B HODL aims to capitalise on transaction fee income and provide inbound liquidity to other Lightning node operators as its first lines of business. The expected Admission date is on TBC. Market Movers 8th September: Pan African Resources (PAF.L) announced its intention to move from AIM to the Main Market. The Company is currently progressing workstreams to facilitate the Admission, is expected to occur prior to 31 December 2025. 8th September: Richmond Hill Resources (AQSE: SHNJ) announced its intention to move from AQSE to AIM. Deal details TBC and admission expected late September 2025.
WPHO STX SFOR RENX LIT ITX ING DIS BGO
Windar Photonics has released Interims to Jun25 showing solid growth in revenue and improving gross margins, although still making a small cash loss in the half due to increased overheads as it deploys the recently raised funds to scale its operations.
Today’s H1 results announcement from WPHO highlights confidence in the full year, with as much as two thirds of our FY25 forecast accomplished in H1 or inked in through contracted orders. WPHO is a global leader in wind turbine efficiency optimisation, with unique IP concentrated both on its innovative LIDAR systems and in its proprietary software. Revenues are up strongly; and the post-tax loss has been pared back on a currency adjusted basis, while the company has also materially enhanced marketing. Standing back, the whole platform for the business has been significantly enhanced, with (1) a new, much expanded and efficient operational site since the middle of the year, (2) a new, full-time, Finance Director, Søren Karles Belmar, who has been in place since June, adding materially to the management platform; and (3) meaningful new appointments on the sales front. We view these enhancements as providing further strong impetus to a business whose technology provides unquestioned benefits to its client base. With a strong bid pipeline and €5m of net cash in hand at the half year, we believe WPHO is well-placed to fulfil its ambitions, and we retain our current 90p price target.
Windar Photonics has announced a very significant new order worth $2.6m, for an eighth full windfarm deployment of its innovative LiDAR solution in the highly lucrative US market.
This morning’s announcement of a $2.6m contract win with a US customer reflects burgeoning momentum for WPHO in North America, offering further encouraging evidence that the company has overcome negatives such as tariffs and changes to tax credits; and is seeing growing demand for its products. WPHO is a global leader in wind turbine efficiency optimisation, with unique IP concentrated both on its innovative LIDAR systems and in its proprietary software. The win comes at a time when a number of important developments at group level are expected to add fuel to the trading momentum. Notably, as highlighted in the recent AGM update, not only has production moved to a new, much expanded and efficient operational site, but the company is also benefiting from the appointment of new Finance Director Designate Søren Karles Belmar, who has been in place since June, adding materially to the management platform. With net cash of close to €6m at the FY24A year end and progressive forecasts, we view WPHO as very well placed to fulfil its ambitions in the US and other markets, where there are very sizeable retrofit opportunities for WPHO with a wide range of wind turbines set to take it beyond its Vestas V82 turbine heartland. With both growing sales momentum and rising quality of earnings (software), we raise our target price to 90p (was 75p).
Windar Photonics has released an AGM statement confirming is in a strong position, supported by a solid forward orderbook and a growing pipeline of opportunities and expects to deliver significant yoy revenue growth in FY25;
Coming four weeks after an inline set of final results, WPHO’s AGM update this morning reflects continuing momentum, in a year which is set to demonstrate significant progress YoY. Through its LIDAR and software products alike, WPHO remains a leading pioneer in the optimisation of wind turbine efficiency, with unique IP in that area; and its systems are qualified on a wide range of platforms going well beyond the Vestas V82 turbines which have been a mainstay of the business. In H1, the company progressed its second deployment with a major client (€US2.5m follow on order), with potential for more in addition to progress it has made on the software front (higher margin activity). At the same time, WPHO has made some important steps forward in further growing and professionalising the business, notably (1) a significant strengthening of the team with the appointment of Finance Director Designate Søren Karles Belmar; and (2) the recent move to a new, larger and more efficient production site near Copenhagen, expanding both capacity and operational effectiveness. The financial platform remains strong, given net cash of just shy of €6m at the year end (and progressive forecasts). With c.10% of US electrical energy supplied by wind turbines, we see significant further retrofit opportunities for WPHO, as well as potential in Europe, Asia and elsewhere, adding up to the €60m-plus current prospective pipeline which has previously been flagged.
4th July 2025 Alphabetically arranged Share prices and market capitalisations taken from Alpha Terminal from the current price on the day of publication. Top three shareholders are taken from the websites of the companies that we are writing about, unless there is a more up to date TR-1 notification RNS announcement. Cautious expectations may prove the best policy for growth in the longer term ALT University Challenge WPHO Revenue Tacking Altitude Group 24.5p £17.9m (ALT.L) Financial Calendar: Year End March, Results are expected to be reported on 29 July, Interims to September, to be reported by end of December Top Three Shareholders: Mr. Simon Taylor 14.00%, Mr. Martin Varley (Director) 12.95%, Mr. Keith Wills 9.22% Key Investment Points: Scalable growth, Attractive University niche, Improved Operational Gearing The end-to-end solutions provider of branded merchandise to the promotions industry is expected to report Finals to March on 29 July. Ignoring the narrative, there was little evidence of the uncertainty from trade tariffs impacting business sentiment in the figures in March’s Trading update. Significant growth can be expected; with an adjusted profit before tax of £1.3m on turnover of £28m, compared to £0.7m on £24m turnover in March 2024. The gross profit margin in services declined from 90.5% to 88.5% and from 16.4% to 14.8% on Merchanting for a blended 36.5% from 43.2%. The anticipated growth in EBITDA is more pronounced from 2024’s £0.7m to the £2.7m forecast for March 2025. The net debt is £0.6m and the Company is confident that the existing Bank facility is sufficient to fund its ambitious growth aspirations. The global promotional products marketplace is worth $26bn. Altitude provides its clients with best-in-class technology and marketing tools, as well as connecting them to its trusted network of supplier partners. Distributor members are supplied with patented ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) in a SaaS model for an ecommerce website that helps them sell online which can include CRM (Customer Relationship Management), and Order Management Systems with a built-in supply chain platform. The established ‘merchanting’ network has 318 ‘trusted’ supplier partners from the promotional products industry; there are 2,405, distributor members with 1m plus products available for customising. Merchanting for Altitude means selling promotional products, and acting as the principal in those transactions, essentially, they buy and sell promotional items, taking on the commercial risk and responsibility for those sales. The US Universities promotions market is proving to be a lucrative less competitive sector and is worth approximately $9bn. In March, seven new University contracts were reported with expected average revenues of $6.5 m across the full academic year. The most recent of these awarded contracts has an annualised value of $4.0m across multiple locations over a 5-year contract. The Group has been investing in people and systems to support these new programmes. We calculate that the EBITDA/EV is 7x on a prospective P/E of 15x for 2025 and the higher earnings in 2026 would benefit from improved operational gearing. Hybridan Comment: Despite the caution this month, finals could report increasing sales momentum to MAGA (Make Altitude Grow Again). Windar Phototonics 49.00p £47.22m (WPHO.L) Last Reported in Friday Takeway, 28 March at 41.5p Financial Calendar: Year End December, Finals Reported 1 July 2025, Interims to June, to be reported by end of September Top Three Shareholders: Pasinika Limited (Jorgen Jenson, Director) 5.86%, Amati AIM VCT plc 4.25%, Octopus Investments Limited 4.05% Key Investment Points: Sustainable Windpower, Scalable Recurring Income, Net Cash £6m The technology Company with a LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) assisted Monitoring and Optimisation solution across multiple wind turbine platforms reported Finals to December 2024. Its suite of products and services are proven to efficiently increase the power output of wind turbines and reduce the lifetime operating costs of generating electricity. Revenue as expected was marginally lower at EUR4.6m compared to revenue of EUR4.8m; the reduction was due to a EUR1.2m shipment being blown into FY2025. The gross profit margin improved to 56.4% from 50.4%, although a 34.7% increase in administration costs and £222k of exceptional charges increased the loss before tax to EUR1.08m from 2023’s EUR0.11m. After the EUR5.5m fund raise in December 2024 at 40p, the FY net cash was EUR7.1m (£6.13m) which is sufficient to increase investment in people, manufacturing and technology to support the expected step change in revenue growth as solutions are rolled out across multiple sites. The successful launch of the Windar Nexus OS (Operating System) software suite in 2024 is being followed up with further modules delivering full Turbine Performance Monitoring (TPM) capability. Software and TPM, combined with the continued hardware evolution, provide a scalable opportunity for recurring revenue. North America and China are key regions, but customers are reported to be cautious and there is uncertainty surrounding the timing of new orders. Particularly so in the US with some customers pausing to allow current tariff volatility to pass. A $2.5m order was won in December and the Company is expecting to announce a new order from this region soon. There are also other test orders on several turbine platforms in Europe and Japan and management is confident in obtaining its first V82 (a popular wind turbine model) windfarm rollout in Australia. Expectations for December 2026 are set at EUR9.55m revenue for an EBITDA of EUR2.35m (£2.2m) which gives an EBITDA/EV of 18x. Hybridan Comment: The shares are 18% ahead of our mention in the Friday Takeway 28th March at 41.5p and, in the absence of winning some decent orders, the shares may drift. Jon Levinson MBA jon.levinson@hybridan.com If you would like to unsubscribe, please email enquiries@hybridan.com with “unsubscribe me”. 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Windar Photonics Plc Altitude Group plc
Windar Photonics FY24 revenue and earnings are in line with expectations as revised a few weeks ago.
* A corporate client of Hybridan LLP. ** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) or similar announcement has been made. ***Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement. ****Alphabetically arranged and Closing Price on prior day to Publication. Dish of the day Admissions: Today, none. Yesterday, Elixirr International (ELIX.L) transferred from the AIM to Main Market. Delistings: Today, Aquis Exchange (AQX.L) and Kinovo (KINO.L) delisted from AIM. Yesterday, Invinity Energy Systems (AQSE:IES) left AQSE. What’s baking in the oven? Potential** Initial Public Offerings:*** Updated 10th June: iFOREX Financial Trading, the fintech business with a proprietary online and mobile trading platform for multi-asset contracts for difference, announced that its proposed IPO onto the Main Market, which was expected to occur in late June, will be delayed. A routine thematic compliance inspection commenced earlier this year in the BVI, which was disclosed in the Company's Registration Document, requires additional time to enable finalisation ahead of the IPO. The inspection process is close to completion and the Company anticipates only a short delay to the IPO timetable. The Company reports the IPO has received strong investor interest and based on firm orders received to date, the institutional offer is heavily oversubscribed. Deal size and timing remains TBC.
WPHO LPA GCON COOK AVCT AVAP ELIX
Yesterday’s results from WPHO reflect continuing strong order flow, with results aligned to the prior year as announced previously; but this cannot hide significant underlying progress, with new customer wins in North America and continuing progress well beyond the company’s original V82 turbine heartland. As a leading innovator in the field of wind turbine optimisation, with unique IP in that area, WPHO has qualified its systems on a meaningful range of turbine platforms globally, while its capabilities in the context of the retrofit market remain highly topical. Progress in H1 has been underpinned by a €US2.5m follow on order to the new client the company referenced in the prior year; and further advanced software modules have been developed expanding this higher margin strand of the business. Beyond this, WPHO has continued to be busy on a wide range of fronts including penetrating new geographies; the imminent move to a new, more convenient site, with resulting efficiencies; and strengthening the team with the appointment of a new Finance Director Designate. With net cash of €5.7m on the balance sheet following last year’s placings, the platform remains strong. Our FY25E forecast is reduced bearing in mind (1) negative exchange rate movements (weaker $US) and (2) the continuing uncertainties around US macros in particular; however, the new forecast still represents approximately double last year’s revenue number and a meaningful step forward in profitability, while Zeus are also now putting in place progressive FY26E forecasts, which are substantiated by positive engagement with the market across numerous geographies.
WPHO continues to progress order conversion for its leading wind turbine optimisation solutions in a variety of geographies ahead of its FY24 results later this month, with major opportunities remaining in the pipeline with new and existing customers. However, yesterday’s announcement (11th June) from the group leads us to adjust revenue and profit expectations for FY24 following a review of revenue cut off timing in the course of the annual audit process. Revenues relating to an order valued at €1.25m, which were expected to be recognised in FY24, are now expected to fall into FY25, with WPHO expecting a commensurate impact on EBITDA, which is adjusted from a €0.4m profit to a €0.4m loss (see Exhibit 1 below for full details).
Dish of the day Admissions: None Delistings: Yesterday, Field Sys Designs (AQSE.FSD), left the Aquis Stock Exchange. What’s baking in the oven? Potential** Initial Public Offerings: Updated 10th June: iFOREX Financial Trading, the fintech business with a proprietary online and mobile trading platform for multi-asset contracts for difference, announced that its proposed IPO onto the Main Market, which was expected to occur in late June, will be briefly delayed. A routine thematic compliance inspection commenced earlier this year in the BVI, which was disclosed in the Company's Registration Document, requires additional time to enable finalisation ahead of the IPO. The inspection process is close to completion and the Company anticipates only a short delay to the IPO timetable. The Company reports the IPO has received strong investor interest and based on firm orders received to date, the institutional offer is heavily oversubscribed. Deal size and timing remains TBC. Market Movers: Updated 4 June 2025: Ajax Resources (AJAX.L) is planning to move to the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market Access Category from the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. The Company expects cancellation to take place at 08:00 BST on 18 June 2025, with Admission to trading on AQSE to occur concurrently. Ajax is pursuing a strategy as a natural resources investment company, with a focus on Copper, Gold, Zinc, Uranium, and Lead. The Company completed its first acquisition on 21 May 2025. The Company’s first acquisition was the purchase of Puna Metals S.A., holding the mining rights for 12 licences, collectively forming the Eureka Gold and Copper project in the north-west corner of the Province of Jujuy in Argentina.
WPHO VRCI TENG REC OPTI FDEV CREO CMET CGS
Windar Photonics has released an audit update revealing that its auditors have moved the large order despatched just before YE into the current year, FY25.
Yesterday’s update from WPHO reflects continuing strong order flow, with double digit revenue growth in FY24 and a strong H1-25E in prospect. Rephasing of contracted deliveries has affected FY24 numbers, with revenues / EBITDA at the lower end of expectations. However, this said, the pipeline is converting well, with (1) the major order announced in December set to contribute to a strong H1 in the current year, (2) progress on converting targets across the board geographically, (3) a third order received for WHPO’s innovative software solution from an existing customer; and (4) the company has announced a first major test with a significant European producer. WPHO is a leading innovator in the field of wind turbine optimisation with unique IP, has qualified its systems on a meaningful range of turbine platforms globally, and its engagement with the retrofit market is clearly timely. Progress towards pipeline conversion in the US and now in Europe reflects strong market engagement in the past eighteen months; and we view growing geographical diversity as a significant plus, with Europe as well as the US and Asia as a meaningful target. We note the “excellent progress” on strengthening the team, while last year’s £5.9m placing, which was oversubscribed, provides a strong platform for future growth. FY25E forecasts are unchanged.
Windar Photonics post-YE update reveals FY Dec24 was a second consecutive record year for the wind industry technology innovator, with revenue rising +20% to a new record €5.7m and EBITDA doubling to €0.4m.
Windar Photonics has announced a record single order, valued at $2.5m (€2.4m) for delivery to a US customer in 1H25.
Abingdon Healthcare 7.75p £15.01m (ABDX.L) There are two announcements from this developer, manufacturer and distributor of high quality, rapid diagnostic tests. A contract worth $2m with US based, Find Out From Home LLC, for performance evaluation, regulatory services and clinical testing of four STDs (sexually transmitted disease) tests. It begins this month with an initial purchase order for $350,000. It will enable commercialisation of four lateral flow self-tests for HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis in the USA, UK and EU. Also announced is the opening of its analytical laboratory in Doncaster to be operated by Abingdon Analytical Ltd. It was funded by the proceeds from the recent funding and forms a beneficial bridge with its contract development and manufacturing business. Feedback 17.00p £7.23m (FDBK.L) The clinical infrastructure specialist gave an Interim trading update to November 2024. After raising £6.1m, its net cash is £7.3m and is to be used to roll out Bleepa for ICBs (Integrated Care Boards) under the ERF (Elective Recovery Fund), through the collaboration agreement with a large UK primary care partner. It is positioned for a step change in commercial prospects due to the ERF funding mechanism. This has the potential to be highly significant and it is currently in active discussions with several ICBs and continues to focus on converting the growing pipeline. The Board believes that Bleepa is positioned to address one of the key underlying challenges to NHS reform and is perfectly aligned with the strategic aims of the Government. The recent fundraising both enables the Company to build scale for implementation and provides a runway for delivery. Global Connectivity 0.6p £2.1m (AQSE: GCON)* The Company focused on communication services and technologies that enhance connectivity announced that of the 95m Ordinary Shares that require payment by 31 December, 57.5m Ordinary Shares are being paid for or returned to the Company and cancelled on or before 31 December. The total consideration of these transactions equates to potentially £950,000 in total. The Executive Chairman Dr Keith Harris will surrender the 20m Ordinary Shares held directly in certificated form, which will be then cancelled by the Company and his SIPP, which is his pension, will buy newly issued Ordinary Shares simultaneously for a total consideration of £200,000 at 1 penny per share. Mrs. Meyer will surrender 32.5m Ordinary Shares which will be cancelled by the Company and will simultaneously pay £50,000 for the remaining 5m Ordinary Shares at 1 penny per share in full settlement of her £375,000 obligation to the Company. The Company has yet to hear from the former Consultant about the £375,000 debt for his 37.5m Ordinary Shares. GSTechnologies 1.63p £32.08m (GST.L) The fintech Company reported Interim results to September 2024. The net loss reduced to $69k from a $737k loss as the operating businesses gained traction while continuing to invest in developing its GS Money solutions. Revenue improved 9x to $2.2m and there was a reduction of 8% in admin costs to $2.3m. The Group is focused on developing a borderless neobanking platform to provide digital money solutions, both organically and through complementary acquisitions. Neobanking is a type of banking that operates exclusively online. The strategic preparations for a potential listing of its 67% owned subsidiary, Semnet, on NASDAQ are underway. The last funding was at 1.05p in April, raising £1.24m, and net cash is £2.3m. Hardide 6.13p £3.73m (HDD.L) The provider of advanced surface coating technology announced that it has signed a 10-year supply agreement with a major customer in the Aerospace sector for the coating of cargo door components. Customer-funded equipment modifications are due to be largely completed in the first half of the financial year, together with subsequent tooling. Initial production volumes are together expected to benefit current financial year revenues by at least £0.5m. Thereafter, based on the customer's anticipated build rates for the relevant aircraft, production revenues are expected to be within the range of £6m to £8m over the 10-year timeframe based on senior management expectations. Incanthera 4.975p £5.82m (AQSE:INC) The company focused on technologies in dermatology and oncology presents its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2024. Over the period, the Company geared up operationally and corporately towards the launch of their luxury skincare range Skin + CELL. A total of £3.4m was raised in the period under review through an equity fundraise in June 2024 for £2.6m and various warrant exercises through the period of £0.8m. This was invested into inventory across all five products in the Skin + CELL range. Following the period end, the Company announced on 26 November 2024 that it had received unsupported allegations from a third party concerning a potential patent infringement in relation to the formulation of the Skin + Cell range of products. The Company considers the unsupported allegations to be without merit and is resolute in its commitment to a conclusion. Shoe Zone 80.00p £64.02m (SHOE.L) The footwear retailer announces that for the first two months of its financial year and the first half of December, it has experienced very challenging trading conditions, principally a weakening of consumer confidence and unseasonal weather, both of which have decreased revenue and profit. The Company reported consumer confidence has weakened further following the Government's budget in October 2024, and as a result of this budget, the Company will also incur significant additional costs due to the increases in National Insurance and the National Living Wage. As a result, the Company now expects adjusted profit before tax for the financial year ending 27 September 2025 to be not less than £5.0m, down from previous expectations of £10.0m. The Artisanal Spirits Company 39.00p £26.46m (ART.L) The creator of limited-edition whiskies and experiences around the world, and owner of The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS), Single Cask Nation & J.G. Thomson provides an update on trading and membership and announces a strategic investment in the Group's US operations. The Group remains on track to deliver the consensus EBITDA forecast of £1m for FY24. This would represent a c£1.5m year on year improvement in reported EBITDA (FY23: £0.5m loss) and a c£1m improvement in Adjusted EBITDA (FY23: £0.1m). Total SMWS membership has increased to around 42,000 (up 5% vs June 2024), with significant growth in the UK in H224, supported by a successful member referral programme. The Company expect full year revenue to be broadly flat on FY23 (£23.5m) and to deliver further profitable growth in FY25 in line with the current business strategy. Revenue expectations remain in line with consensus forecasts. Windar Photonics 56.00p £48.50m (WPHO.L) The technology group that has developed wind turbine Monitoring and Optimisation solutions has landed a significant order. It is out of the pipeline of potential orders and is for $2.5m for delivery to the US market in H1 2025. This order is the largest discrete order in the Company's history and will represent the seventh full wind farm in North America to be equipped with its solutions. The Company is endeavouring to continue to convert its existing pipeline into confirmed sales. Zotefoams 307.00p £158.75m (ZTF.L) The operator in cellular materials technology provides an update on ReZorce circular packaging technology and confirms trading comfortably in line with market expectations for the full year. Given the capital investment, market access, and expertise required to achieve high volume production of finished packaging, the Board has consistently believed that a strategic partner is necessary to realise the commercial potential of the ReZorce technology. While this process has been extensive and included engagement with parties across the value chain, it has not identified a partner prepared to take the ReZorce technology forward at this time. Zotefoams has continued to deliver a strong financial performance in a volatile market and the Board is confident that the Group will deliver a full year adjusted profit performance comfortably in line with the guidance provided
WPHO HDD SHOE INC ABDX Z29 FDBK GCON
Windar Photonics has raised £5.9m through a placing of 14.7m shares at 40p. The business is growing very rapidly; revenue jumping from €1.9m in FY22, to €4.8m in FY23, and the recent 3Q update revealed FY24 revenue will be between €6m to €7m with a €60m pipeline of prospective sales for just the hardware.
Alphabetically arranged Share prices and market capitalisations taken from the current price on the day of publication APTA Novel Binders SBDS On Target WPHO Chasing Wind Aptamer Group 0.275p £5.3m (APTA.L) Source: Alpha Terminal Aptamer is a life science Company developing custom affinity binders through its proprietary Optimer platform which enables new approaches in therapeutics, diagnostics, and research applications. Aptamers, affinity reagents, have short single-stranded DNA or RNA, which are flexible so can fold into and around complex surfaces of target molecules. This allows for a wider target range of targets than competitor affinity reagents. Aptamer’s finals to Y/E June 2024 reflect the reorganisation, a refreshed board and reduced costs. The new strategic approach, launched in August 2024, focuses on the development and partnering of high-value patient Optimer assets with licensing potential. The 12-month revenue was £0.8m with an EBITDA loss of £2.2m and net cash of £0.9m and since the year end, £3.5m was raised at 0.2p. Increased commercial traction is reported as the commercial pipeline is rebuilt; £1m in orders was won in the last quarter ; and progress in licensing critical reagents with a top five pharma partner was announced. The Unilever partnership made considerable progress towards using Optimer binders in treating ‘smells’ in deodorant products, a market worth $21bn. A toxicity report after trials on human skin is due by Q1 25. There is a partnership with AstraZeneca on an Optimer delivery vehicle validated for potential precision medicines in fibrotic liver. This addresses an unmet need in a growing $14.7bn global market. It is developing a lateral flow test for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease potentially disrupting a global diagnoses market worth $4.1m. Keen interest is reported from multiple partners with potential for significant high-value licensing deals. Since the finals, new contracts worth £471k have been won from two of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies. The contracts are for developing Optimers critical reagents to support active clinical development programmes and facilitate the analysis of novel therapeutics. The support of key industry players reinforces its position as a ‘serious’ player in the market. Management says its steadily advancing towards the revenue and potential licensing goals for FY25 with the best part of 7 months left in the financial year. Comment: Worthwhile commercial traction seems likely within the existing cash runway. Silver Bullet Data Services Group 49.5p £8.3m (SBDS.L) Price Results Largest Shareholder Value 49-50p Y/E December Gresham House 12.0% New WC Facility Spread: 2.0% Report June Keith Morris 9.8% Blue Chip Clients 52 week High/Low: 200p/33p Report Interims Sept Chelverton Asset Management 4.4% Inflexion Point Source: Alpha Terminal A provider of AI driven digital media services and products uses contextual data to help brands to better understand data collected and stored so it can be used, for example on Black Friday, to encourage customers to spend. SBDS’s platform is regularly used by blue chip clients including Coca Cola, Sony, Marriott, Disney, Sunkist and Burger King. In August, it secured a contract with the world’s largest self-service advertising platform, which handles $9.6bn in annual transactions. So, just by selling more to existing clients, it’s a foundation for organic growth. At the Interims to June, a moderate increase in revenue to £4.4m was reported as well as record bookings and committed revenue. This follows the strategic decision in the first half to focus on higher margin long-term repeatable business. The target is to achieve a consistent positive EBITDA run rate by the end of 2024. The gross margins are 75% with Interim administrative and operating costs of £4.2m, so achieving EBITDA is an inflection point allowing the operational leverage to kick into profit growth. This month an opportunistic acquisition was made for the IP of Codex AI from a company in administration. It cost just £50k, payable in two tranches with a 10% of net revenues earnout to Dec 2025. This seems an inspired complementary deal as its software extracts consumer behaviour from social platforms such as Instagram, X (formerly twitter), YouTube and Facebook globally. Codec AI also has international clients including Diageo, Unilever, Mars and Procter & Gamble. Silver Bullet Data Services value adding marketing solutions are created by blending human expertise, cutting edge technology and AI. These are integrated into its customers’ technology platforms generating ‘sticky’ recurring revenue. H224 is reported to have started particularly strongly with new global contracts and clear revenue visibility which is already ahead of FY23 with months left before the YE. Although operations generate cash, its working capital is tight and there is a new working capital facility secured on receivables and backed by a revolving credit, initially for £2m, with up to £4m available over 24 months. This should be sufficient working capital to achieve a positive EBITDA run rate, although a fund raise would help accelerate growth. Comment: Media technology is a highly competitive sector, but the rewards are high and it seems SBDS is on target. Windar Photonics 43p £35.0m (WPHO.L) Source: Alpha Terminal This Danish based technology group for the global wind energy industry has developed WindEye and WindTimizer sensors and 'Nexus' software solutions. The suite of products and services are proven to efficiently increase the power output of wind turbines and reduce the lifetime operating costs of generating electricity. A report from the Global Wind Energy Council, states the wind industry must roughly triple its annual growth from 117GW in 2023 to 320GW+ by 2030 to meet COP28 targets. WPHO raised £4.4m at 35p a share in April 2024, of which c. £2.2m was remaining at the interims. The raise was after winning a new order in North America for $1.27m which was expected to lead to further orders from the same customer as it operates several wind farms populated by approximately five times as many V82 turbines. The recent Trading update however reported that due to the increased number of new customer discussions which are by their nature detailed and complex, these have stretched the sales resources and capability, so it is taking longer to conclude contracts than anticipated. Therefore, despite its global order pipeline remaining, substantial the timing of these sizable orders will impact results. In the current financial year to December 2024, two specific orders with Euro 4m of revenue are more than likely to blow into 2025. Consequently, revenue and EBITDA expectations are reduced for the current year: to revenue of Euro 6m-Euro 7m down from the expected Euro 10m, but up from Euro 4.7m last year. This implies an EBITDA of between Euro 0.4m and Euro 0.9m compared to Euro 0.2m, but a steep drop from earlier expectations of Euro 3.3m. The short fall in EBITDA of c. Euro 2.9m, could be recovered in 2025 as the Board reiterated that no discussions have been terminated nor orders lost, and that the potential opportunity remains considerable. Comment: There is the possibility of a substantial order before any further funding is likely.
Windar Photonics have issued an impressive 3Q update, anticipating a record six-month performance in 2H24 and revealing a huge €60m pipeline of opportunities currently being developed for just its hardware alone.
WPHO’s update this morning highlights significant progress in its market engagement, with advanced discussion ongoing with a range of independent power producers (IPPs). Collectively these represent a potential client-base of approaching 3,000 turbines; and including other geographies, an overall bid pipeline of some €60m is prospective, significantly ahead of previous engagement by the company with the market, and reflecting progress which has been made in the past eighteen months. WPHO is a leading innovator in the field of wind turbine optimisation with unique IP, has qualified its systems on a meaningful range of turbine platforms globally, and most recently has been taking its product forward in the sizeable retrofit US market. This morning’s update also highlights some growing pains, as contracts have shifted sideways while detailed discussions were taking place across a wide range of opportunities. We detail our forecast reductions below, and note that in the future, software income and multi-year revenue contracts are expected to become a more important part of the company’s business.
Windar Photonics is a leading manufacturer of cost-efficient LiDAR-based wind measurement solutions for the growing global wind-energy industry; enabling wind turbine operators to increase energy production, reduce maintenance costs and lengthen the life of their large (>1.5 MW) wind turbines.
Following WPHO’s successful £4m April fund-raise, H1 24 results this morning demonstrate continuing rapid scale up, with revenues well ahead YoY and significantly expanded gross margins. WPHO is a leading innovator in the field of wind turbine optimisation with unique IP, has qualified its systems on a meaningful range of turbine platforms globally, and notably in the pre-eminent US market. We are encouraged by signs of good momentum in taking its product to market - 71% YoY revenue growth and an FY2024E order book which is well ahead of the prior period. With a substantial global wind turbine retrofitting opportunity, the scale of the addressable market is large and growing. We note the opportunities for WPHO on new platforms such as Senvion and GE in addition to the more familiar Vestas V82 platform. Given the opportunities referenced in today’s announcement, plus the inception of recurring revenues on the back of WPHO’s new turbine management software, we retain our 67p fair value target while adding FY25E forecasts for the first time.
5th August 2024 * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP ** Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement *** Alphabetically arranged **** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) has been announced, or it is a rumour Dish of the day Admissions: Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Our daily digest of news from UK Small Caps If you would like to unsubscribe, please email enquiries@hybridan.com with “unsubscribe me”. Hybridan Chefs research@hybridan.com Banquet Buffet*** Clean Invest Africa 0.045p £0.9m (AQSE: CIA) The investment vehicle that identifies investment opportunities and acquisitions in renewable and clean energy projects/companies or alternative technologies, announce that it has successfully renegotiated an outstanding Loan Facility agreement with Contax Partners Inc. (beneficially owned by Filippo Fantechi) with an outstanding balance of approximately £551k. The entire debt of £551k will be immediately converted into 157,437,729 Ordinary Shares of the Company at a price of 0.35 pence per share. All Conversion Shares will be subject to a 12-month lock-in period and thereafter subject to an orderly market agreement for a further period of 12 months. Cordel Group 4.45p £8.9m (CRDL.L) The Artificial Intelligence platform for transport corridor analytics, announces that it has extended its relationship with Amtrak through the award of a contract to provide a comprehensive assessment of Amtrak's Metro-North corridor. Metro-North serves the New York Metropolitan Area, running services between New York City and its northern suburbs in New York and Connecticut. It is part of the Northeast Corridor (NEC), an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States, running from Boston in the north to Washington, D.C. in the south. The contract extension builds upon Cordel's ongoing work with Amtrak and aims to enhance safety and efficiency on this critical rail line. Firering Strategic Minerals 2.95p £5.4m (FRG.L) The development company focusing on critical minerals announces that an agreement with a multinational commodity trading company has been signed, which will provide a logistics services revenue stream at Limeco, its advanced quicklime project in Zambia. This two year agreement providing expected revenue of US$600-720k per annum. This means that Limeco is producing positive operational cashflow even before start of core quicklime production in Q4 2024. Negotiations are ongoing with major copper producers for the sale of quicklime. Aggregate sales began in Q4 2023 with further offtake agreements expected as operations ramp up in the coming months. Firering currently holds a 20.5% stake in Limeco Resources Limited. Frontier IP Group 32.5p £18.3m (FIPP.L) The specialist in commercialising intellectual property announces that portfolio company GraphEnergyTech has raised £1m through its first external equity funding round. The fundraising was led by Aramco Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Aramco, the world's leading integrated energy and chemicals company. Frontier IP, a GraphEnergyTech co-founder, now holds a 23.97% equity stake. Proceeds will be used to accelerate development and scale up of GraphEnergyTech's advanced high-conductivity graphene electrodes. The technology's initial application is for use in solar cells, where graphene can replace silver electrodes. Gunsynd 0.16p £0.9m (GUN.L) The investing company announces that, further to the announcement of 11 July 2024, it has entered into a farm-in agreement with Pinwheel Resources Ltd in relation to certain licences over prospective acreage in Canada. Gunsynd has acquired a 100% legal and beneficial interest in the Falcon Lake U-Cu-Co project and Bear-Twit VMS project in Canada and consideration of £200,000 will be satisfied by (i) the issue of 115,384,615 new ordinary shares at a price of 0.13 pence per share for a total consideration of £150,000; (ii) £50,000 in cash (£25,000 paid on completion, £25,000 deferred to the earlier of: (a) 10 business days after completion of a qualifying fundraise of at least £200,000, or (b) the first anniversary of the Agreement. hVIVO plc 29.5p £200.7m (HVO.L) The fast-growing specialist contract research organisation (CRO) and world leader in testing infectious and respiratory disease products using human challenge clinical trials, announces its intention to cancel its admission to trading on Euronext Growth. As hVIVO’s primary operations, along with the majority of its employees and investor base, are in the UK, the Board has decided to consolidate trading of the Company’s stock to its primary listing on the AIM Market. The Cancellation will also remove certain costs, complexities and duplication that comes from administering two listing regimes and will have no impact on hVIVO’s Ordinary Shares which will continue to trade on AIM under the ticker “HVO”. IXICO plc 7p £3.4m (IXI.L) The precision analytics company delivering intelligent insights in neuroscience, announces that Bram Goorden will be appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Company from 19 August 2024. Bram has over 20 years leadership experience in BioPharma and precision medicine, serving in roles where he has been instrumental in shaping commercial strategies for scale, growing revenues and ultimately enabling realisation of shareholder value. He has strong CNS experience, and established networks within IXICO's target market. Mindflair plc 1.075p £2.9m (MFAI.L) The company that invests in next-generation technology focused on AI, announces that it has agreed to subscribe £300k for 315,790 new shares in Sure Ventures plc at a price of 95 pence per share. Prior to the Subscription, Mindflair held 1,501,000 ordinary shares in SV plc, representing a 20.5% shareholding which it acquired in February 2021 through the issue of its own equity at a price of 13.6 pence per share. Sure Ventures plc's principal asset is a 25.9 % shareholding in Sure Valley Ventures Fund (SVV1). Mindflair already has a 13% direct interest in SVV1 and a 5.3% indirect interest in SVV1 via its current holding in Sure Ventures plc. SVV1 is both closed to new investment and has entered its realisation phase. In addition, the Subscription has also increased the Company's indirect interest in the Sure Valley Ventures UK Software Technology Fund (SVV2). Real Estate Investors 34p £59.3m (RLE.L) The UK's only Midlands-focused Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), with a portfolio of commercial property across all sectors, provides a trading update. Planned disposals were £11.9m year-to-date, either completed (or conditionally exchanged) at an aggregate uplift of 4.1% (before costs) against December 2023 valuations. Receipts from completed disposals have been used to repay £7.3m of debt year-to-date. Total cash at bank is £4.4m, with monies on deposit earning 4.5%. Average cost of debt maintained at 6.5% (FY 23: 6.5%). Contracted rental income was £10m p.a. (FY23: £10.9m p.a.) with loss of income predominantly due to disposals and concluding vacant possession on specific assets to satisfy contractual sales obligations. Windar Photonics 48.5p £39.4m (WPHO.L) The technology group that has developed its WindEye and WindTimizer LiDAR wind sensors and its related 'Nexus' software suite designed to increase the power output and reduce lifetime operating costs of wind turbines, gives an update ahead of its AGM today. Windar Photonics provided a trading update, alongside the 2023 final results announcement, on 1st July. Since then, the Company has received a new order from a Canadian client to test our WindEye product on the Senvion turbine platform, starting in September. While the value of this test order, which includes the use of supporting software, is not in itself material, the Board anticipates that if the test is successful, this could lead to potentially significant new orders.
WPHO FIPP HVO IXI CRDL
Following WPHO's successful £4m April fund-raise, the company has delivered a positive set of FY23A numbers aligned to our forecasts. WPHO is a leading innovator in the field of wind turbine optimisation and continues to grow as orders come through based on its unique IP. Good momentum in the business is reflected in revenues up by more than 150% YoY and an order book for the current year which is already substantially ahead of last year's FY revenue number. The scale of the opportunity is significant, give the size of the global market for retrofitting wind turbines; and the growing engagement with large-scale potential clients in the US, following the first direct sale disclosed in April, is encouraging. With very sizeable players now looking at WPHO's technology – which has provable efficiency benefits – we note strengthening gross margins and retain our €3.1m FY24E profit forecast. Our 67p fair value target reflects the strong product, healthy balance sheet and good trading prospects.
WPHO's announcement last week of a major new contract award with a North American customer represented an encouraging step forward in building the group's presence in this crucial market for wind power; and has been followed by news of the over-subscribed fund-raise which has strengthened the company's balance sheet to the tune of £4m net (£4.4m gross). The company is a pioneer in the field of wind turbine optimisation and continues to grow through innovation based on its unique IP. Following the contract announced last week, FY24E orders standing at €5.9m (against our €12m FY24E forecast) are already ahead of the whole of last year's actual outcome, reflecting good momentum within the business. Funds raised last week of £4.0m at 35p (a premium) will contribute in our opinion to the speediest possible exploitation of the very real opportunities in a huge global market for retrofitting wind turbines. We remain encouraged by the first direct sale in the important North American market, and by confirmation of FY2024E sales guidance. WPHO grew sales by 150% in FY23E. We anticipate another year of strong growth and have set a new fair value target of 68p (was: 61p) reflecting the strong offering, enhanced balance sheet and new sales opportunities.
* A corporate client of Hybridan LLP ** Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement *** Alphabetically arranged **** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) has been announced Dish of the day Admissions: European Green Transition (EGT.L) a developer of green economy assets in Europe which aims to capitalise on the opportunity created by the green energy transition has joined AIM with a successful placing and subscription at a price of 10p per share. The Company has raised approx. £6.46m. On Admission, the Company will have a market capitalisation of approximately £14.5m. Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Potential**** Initial Public Offerings: 21 March 2024: Helix Exploration is pursuing the exploration, commercial development and monetisation of a non-hydrocarbon associated helium rich gas structure in the Ingomar Dome located in central Montana, USA. The Company announces its intention to list its shares on AIM. Total capital to be raised on Admission of up to £7.5m. Expected Admission date 9 April 2024. Reverse Takeovers: Change of Market: Our daily digest of news from UK Small Caps If you would like to unsubscribe, please email enquiries@hybridan.com with “unsubscribe me”. Hybridan Chefs research@hybridan.com Banquet Buffet*** Aptamar Group 0.625p £2.9m (APTA.L) The developer of novel Optimer binders to enable innovation in the life sciences industry announces that it has filed a patent application to protect the recently developed Optimer binder sequences for novel applications in fast moving consumer goods generated as part of its partnership with Unilever. The patent was submitted on 28 March 2024. Submission of this patent application reinforces the ongoing commercial protection of Aptamer Group's leading technology position in the development of high-performance binders. Cora Gold Limited 2.1p £9.5m (CORA.L) The West African focused gold Company announces that an exploration drill programme is due to start shortly at its Madina Foulbé gold permit within the Kenieba Project Area (Project) in east Senegal. A 2,000m Reverse Circulation drilling programme scheduled to evaluate the most prospective gold anomalies not previously drill tested is to start. The drill contract has been signed and site preparation commenced ahead of drilling due to start week 15 April 2024 and complete in May 2024. ELECO 93p £77.4m (ELEC.L) The specialist software provider for the built environment, announces the appointment of James Pellatt to the Board as an independent Non-Executive Director. James has over 25 years of senior leadership experience in technology and the built environment. He also led the use of data resulting in the British Property Federation Award for 'Best Use of Data' in 2023 and he has also studied Digital Transformation at MIT, including a specialism in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Faron Pharmaceuticals 132.5p £91.2m (FARN.L) A clinical-stage biopharmaceutical Company pursuing a CLEVER approach to reprogramming myeloid cells to activate anti-tumor immunity in hematological and solid tumor microenvironments announces that its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr. Markku Jalkanen has informed the Board of Directors of his wish to retire from his position as the Company's CEO during the course of Q2 2024, while continuing in his role as Board Member. The Company's current Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Juho Jalkanen, would be the best candidate to succeed Dr. Markku Jalkanen as CEO of the Company, effective May 1, 2024. Intercede Group 111.5p £64.5m (IGP.L) The cybersecurity software Company specialising in digital identities announces the following trading update for the financial year ended 31 March 2024 (FY24). The Group further announces that revenues for FY24 are expected to be approximately £20m (2023: £12m), 65-66% higher than FY23 and 66-67% higher on a constant currency basis. As at 31 March 2024, gross cash balances totalled £17.2m (2023: £8.3m). The Group has no debt. Mirriad Advertising 2.2p £10.8m (MIRI.L) The in-content advertising and virtual product placement Company announces that it has entered into a strategic agreement (Partnership) with TripleLift Inc. TripleLift's SSP will facilitate automated selling of in-content inventory from Mirriad's growing number of supply partners into leading media buying platforms such as Google's DV360 and the Trade Desk. Mirriad and TripleLift will continue to monetise their unique services via the respective fees generated from inventory transactions. One Heritage Group* 10p £3.9m (OHG.L) The UK-based residential developer, development manager, and property manager focused on the North of England, announces that Yiu Tak (Peter) Cheung has tendered his resignation as Chief Investment Officer (CIO), effective 30th April 2024. The Company has recruited a new Head of Investment, who will officially start in post on 15th April 2024. Renalytix AI 28.5p £34.2m (RENX.L) An in-vitro diagnostics and laboratory services Company that focuses on the new field of bioprognosis for kidney health announces a fundraise of $1m at $0.75 NASDAQ ADS ($0.375 per Ordinary Share) to DB Capital Partners Healthcare, L.P. The sale and purchase shall complete no later than 19 April 2024. The net proceeds of the Fundraise will be used to support commercial sales activity and provide enhanced optionality as the Company continues its ongoing Formal Sale Process, as previously announced. Tekmar Group 10p £13.8m (TEK.L) A provider of products and solutions for the global offshore energy market announces it has recently secured a number of contract awards, with a cumulative value of approximately £6m. The contracts comprise the manufacture and supply of concrete mattresses and sleepers to support subsea pipelines, PRP rock bags and lifting equipment rental. Separately, Tekmar's offshore wind business has secured a contract award of approximately £2m with a tier one offshore wind contractor for the design and supply of Tekmar Group's flagship Generation 10 cable protection system. These contract awards support an order intake of approximately £23m in the financial year to date. Windar Photonics 34.5p £23.7m (WPHO.L) A technology group that has developed a LiDAR wind sensor and software suite designed to efficiently and cost effectively increase the power output of electricity generating wind turbines announces that it has received a significant new order with a gross value of US$1.27m. This new order represents the Company's third full wind farm deployment in North America with Vestas V82 wind turbines to be equipped with the Company's Windar WindEye / WindTimizer optimisation solution. The Company is further proposing to raise up to £4m (with a minimum of £2m) by way of a placing at a price of 35 pence per Placing Share.
WPHO TGP RENX ZNT MIRI IGP ELCO CORA
This morning, WPHO has announced the award of a major new contract with a North American customer worth ca. $US1.3m, representing a further step in building the group's presence and commercial leads in this key market for wind power. The contract win marks the company's third full wind farm deployment in North America, following on from a string of orders in recent months in China, with today's announcement bringing the total order book (inc. revenue delivering in the YTD) to €5.9m – already on track to surpass last year's sales at an early point in the year. With strong prospects in North America and other new markets (Canada and Australia), Windar is proposing to raise up to £4.0m at a price of 35p per placing share to strengthen the balance sheet and accelerate sales and R&D activity, permitting the company to exploit the significant opportunities available in these markets as early as possible. While today's order is not unexpected given our revenue expectations for the full year (FY2024E est: €12.0m), we view the announcement as further validation of the group's excellent progress in North America and are encouraged by management's confirmation of FY2024E sales guidance. We view the group as on track for continued strong growth (following 150% sales growth in FY23E), based on a powerful and arguably unique offering in the wind optimisation market.
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The Company plans to restore, adaptively reuse and bring back to life the Kingsway Exchange Tunnels in Central London, originally built in the early 1940’s, and designed to shelter people during the London Blitz. The Company has successfully raised approximately £10m from investors and aims to admit its Ordinary Shares at a price of £2.00 per share to the Main Market. The Company is expected to have a market capitalisation of approximately £123m on Admission. Delayed: Expected Admission was before the end of January 2024. Reverse Takeovers: Change of Market: Our daily digest of news from UK Small Caps If you would like to unsubscribe, please email enquiries@hybridan.com with “unsubscribe me”. Hybridan Chefs research@hybridan.com Banquet Buffet*** Angus Energy 0.425p £17.6m (ANGS.L) An independent onshore oil and gas development company focused on advancing its portfolio of licensed UK assets announces announce that it has signed definitive loan documentation which allows it to draw down in full on the £20m loan facility (Facility) with Trafigura. The existing senior debt of £4.56m will be transferred to Trafigura and the proceeds of the Facility will be applied to repay the bridge facility of £6m, and £1.75m of Forum Energy's deferred consideration from the sale of Saltfleetby Energy Limited's 49% interest in the Saltfleetby Field to Angus in 2022. The balance of funds will be used to pay legacy creditors and invest in wells and equipment to increase gas production. Aptamer Group 0.75p £3.5m (APTA.L) The developer of novel Optimer® binders to enable innovation in the life sciences industry, announces the second phase of its on-going partnership with Neuro-Bio, a therapeutic focus on neurodegenerative disease, to develop Optimer binders for a lateral flow test for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. This latest phase involves development of an additional Optimer binder against the innovative Neuro-Bio target implicated in Alzheimer's disease, with the goal of developing reagents for a lateral flow test for early disease detection. Ariana Resources 1.7p £19.5m (AAU.L) The mineral exploration and development company with gold mining interests in Europe, announces positive results from the Q4 2023 drilling programme at the Kizilcukur Project of the Kiziltepe Sector where 23.5% is owned by Ariana. Significant results of the drilling programme include: 1.9m @ 30.56g/t Au + 37.7g/t Ag, 17.2m @ 1.99g/t Au + 153.4g/t Ag, 2.9m @ 9.62g/t Au + 25.3g/t Ag. New drilling programme is planned for 2024 to test vein extensions and wider exploration in the Kizilcukur project area. Bens Creek Group 5p £20.0m (BEN.L) The owner of a metallurgical coal mine in North America supplying the steel industry, announces that Chris Walker has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Bens Creek Operations LLC (BC Operations), a wholly owned operating subsidiary of the Group. Chris will commence his employment with BC Operations on 6 March 2024. Following the appointment Adam Wilson will step down as CEO of BC Operations but will remain on the Board and CEO of the Group until Chris joins the Board as CEO of the Group. hris spent 14 years with Peabody Energy, Inc. in a variety of senior finance, strategy and marketing roles. Mycelx Technologies 48p £11.0m (MYX.L) The clean water and clean air technology company transforming the environmental impact of industry, announces the sale of its Saudi Arabia business operations, for an acquisition price of up to $7.125m (Total Consideration) to Twarid Water Treatment LLC (Twarid). The earn-out period of 24 months starts immediately, and is based on Twarid achieving revenue results similar to the Company's historic performance in the country. The assets being sold have a net book value of $2.1m, and the Saudi Arabian business contributed 64% of consolidated group gross profit for the year ended 2022. The sale allows the Company to continue to grow its proprietary media and product sales in Saudi Arabia. Plant Health Care 3.8p £13.0m (PHC.L) A provider of peptides used by growers to improve crop production and quality within global agriculture markets, announce registration of the fungicide, SAORI®, in Mexico for commercial launch. The Company will be launching SAORI at the end of Q3 of 2024 through its most important distributors for use by farmers growing berries, grapes, cucumbers, tomatoes and other solanaceous and cucurbitaceous crops in Mexico. In 2022, the plant-applied biopesticides market in Mexico, which includes both biofungicides and bioinsecticides, was estimated at $200m, growing at a CAGR of %14.3. Powerhouse Energy Group 0.465p £19.4m (PHE.L) A company pioneering integrated technology that converts non-recyclable waste into low carbon energy, announces the signing of an initial 5-year framework agreement (Agreement) with Australian based, National Hydrogen Ltd (National H2). Under the Agreement, Engsolve, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Powerhouse Energy Group, will undertake the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the facilities, which would be fully funded by National H2. Powerhouse will not be required to contribute any capital for these projects. Instead, the collaboration will be based on a license fee and royalties model. Tortilla Mexican Grill 39p £15.1m (MEX.L) The UK's fast-casual Mexican restaurant brand, announces that the Board has been notified by Richard Morris of his intention, following a 35 year career in hospitality and 10 years with the Company, to step down from the Board and from his role of Chief Executive Officer at the end of March 2024. Andy Naylor, who has worked alongside Richard for the last seven years, initially as Chief Financial Officer, will succeed him as Chief Executive Officer. Richard and Andy will continue to work closely together in the month ahead to ensure a smooth transition. Tracsis 900p £271.5m (TRCS.L) A transport technology provider, provides the following trading update for the six months ended 31 January 2024. The Group expects H1 revenue to be in excess of £36.5m (H1 2023: £39.2m). Adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to be c16% (H1 2023: 19%). Cash balances remain strong at c.£16.8m (H1 2023: £17.0m; FY 2023: £15.3m). In the Rail Technology and Services Division, the Group estimates that its pipeline for major software opportunities across both the UK and North American markets has more than doubled during the six months ended 31 January 2024. The Board anticipates that FY24 performance will be in line with market expectations. Windar Photonics 33p £22.7m (WPHO.L) The technology group that has developed a LiDAR wind sensor announces that the company has launched a new and innovative software platform - Windar Nexus. Windar Nexus allows local end-user customers of WindEye Lidar to monitor their WindEye Lidar fleets without any need of modular connectivity to the centralized Windar Control Center located in Copenhagen, Denmark. The software suite constantly monitors and reports potential modifications to achieve accurate yaw optimisation of the individual wind turbine which, in turn, increases the annual power production.
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We view this morning's announcement from WPHO heralding the launch of a new and innovative software platform as a further driver for growth, building on the momentum which we have been seeing from this company in recent months. The Nexus product represents a new level of support for the customer experience, given that clients using this product will see enhanced levels of connectivity, a key advantage for WPHO, which already boasts pioneering and measurably successful hardware and software. WPHO is a leading innovator in the wind turbine optimisation market whose products are able to enhance the wind-generating efficiency of a turbine. We view the news announced this morning as a further reflection of the company's strong commitment to future growth, which will increasingly rest on the three pillars of hardware, software and consulting.
We note the announcement from WPHO this morning reporting the appointment of Gavin Manson to the Board of Directors, where he will be particularly focused on advising and contributing to the company's finance function. Gavin Manson brings an extensive range of high-level experience in public and private market finance roles and is currently CFO of Carr's Group (LSE:CARR, mc: £117m). He was previously Chairman of Hostmore plc, CFO and COO of Electra Private Equity plc, and has held senior finance positions in companies including Thomas Cook plc, Premier Farnell plc and Merck KGaA.
This morning's news from WPHO fulfils the promise of the company's update in December when it outlined a significant Chinese contract win, but also its hopes / expectations of further order conversion, as announced this morning with two new confirmed orders. WPHO is a leading innovator in the wind turbine optimisation market whose products are able measurably to enhance the wind-generating efficiency of a turbine. The contracts announced this morning, amounting to €1.3m, takes visibility for the current year up from the previous c.34% to well over 40%, and with cumulative order intake of €3.9m in China in recent months, suggests that momentum remains strong, notwithstanding difficult weather conditions in parts of that geography, and has scope to continue to expand significantly.
This morning's update from WPHO reflects a year in which the company grew sales by 163% YoY and engineered a €1.6m EBITDA turnaround into profitability. Supply chain issues have caused a shift of a portion of our anticipated revenues into FY24E; however we now have significantly increased visibility for the coming year, with c.34% of our raised FY24E sales forecast covered by forward orders disclosed today, expected to grow to 47% in the near future. WPHO is a leading innovator in the wind turbine optimisation market whose products are able measurably to enhance wind generating efficiency. The coming year is also expected to benefit from further bid pipeline conversions in respect of North America, Australia and Japan, where prospects for WPHO's products are bright. WPHO's consultancy activities, announced in September, are a genuine differentiator, and are well aligned to the market's requirement for highly accurate information, which WPHO's systems are able to provide. Given strong momentum, while the mix of our forecasts between FY23E and FY24E changes to a degree, FY24E is also upgraded on an absolute basis, all in all prompting our fair value assessment to increase in turn, to 58p (was: 47p).
WPHO's H1-23A results this morning show a dramatic rise in revenues against a depressed comparator period and reveal that the order book for FY23 is now fully covered (+27% since the company last reported on June). The company is a leading innovator in the wind turbine optimisation market whose products are able measurably to enhance wind generating efficiency. WPHO has demonstrated excellent momentum in the current year, with a further €2.2m of revenues generated post-period end, on top of the H1 €1.3m, reflecting the accelerating build up of orders, and an additional €3.0m of revenues to come in H2, covered by the order book, in line with our expectations for the full year. We note the prospects outlined for the business, including (1) outstanding quotations to the tune of €6.0m, and (2) additionally growth prospects which WPHO has been developing in China, a main focus for H2. The development of a new consultancy stream of revenues provides further affirmation of WPHO's leading expertise in its discipline, as well as a new monetisation opportunity. Bearing in mind the positive business momentum, and the indications about increased capacity provided by the company, our forecasts are modestly increased for FY24E (see below) and our fair value assessment rises to 47p (39p).
Last week's FY results announcement from WPHO highlights a positive outlook for FY23E based on an order book which strengthened significantly during H2-22A, and which has continued its momentum since then, now offering as much as 78% CY revenue cover. The company is a pioneer in the field of wind turbine optimisation and a home of innovative IP. Our visit to its HQ in Taastrup, Copenhagen, highlighted the quality of its LiDAR product, which has been verified by major OEM's and also by Independent Power Providers (IPP's). We view the company as a market leader in a sizeable potential market which includes a significant retrofit opportunity, and we note progress during the second half of ‘22E highlighted in WPHO's recent results statement. Beyond this, we assess the company's competitive position as being positive – while there are competing LiDAR products, we believe that WPHO is the established market leader on the basis of price, ease of use and compatibility, including its highly distinctive / unique “plug and play” turbine integration functionality. Taking all of this together, we see a positive trajectory for FY23E and initiate with a current fair value assessment of 39p.
Windar, the developer and manufacturer of innovative wind turbine LIDAR sensors, has released full year results this morning for the year ended 31 December 2022, highlighting the company's greatly improved outlook heading into FY2023, whilst drawing a line under a prior year severely affected by widespread supply chain issues and the global pandemic. As previously flagged, production of the company's LIDAR units was held back by the lockdown of Windar's Chinese operations in H1 2022, as well as market-wide electronic component shortages, which continued into the second half. Consequently, despite a strong order book of €2.6m going into 2022, revenue was limited to €1.9m for the full year (FY21A: €0.6m), of which 79% (€1.5m) was achieved in the second half but still limited due to the general component availability situation. Gross margin was in line with historic levels at 51%, with favourable product mix changes and benefits from product re-design offsetting inflation on logistical and component costs, giving rise to an adjusted loss before tax of €1.2m - a decrease of €0.2m from €1.4m in FY2021. The company ended the period with cash balances of €1.4m, following a successful fundraise of €2.1m (net of expenses) in November 2022, with an EBITDA breakeven in H2 pointing to a stronger financial platform going forward as trading improves.
The announcement this morning that Windar, the developer and manufacturer of innovative wind turbine LIDAR sensors, has received a major new order from a Chinese customer reflects a continuation of the significant commercial progress the group has made over the past year. The order, which relates to the delivery of the group's WindVision LiDAR units in the second and third quarters of 2023, is reported to have a gross value of €0.87m and comes from an existing Chinese customer. Windar has also announced the extension of the customer's existing distribution agreement, under which the customer has exclusive rights to deliver Windar's units to selected wind turbine OEMs in China. The agreement, which was signed in July 2021, has been extended by one year in addition to its existing term.
Dish of the day Joiners: Ithaca Energy (ITH.L) has joined the Premium Segment of the Main Market. Based on the offer price of 250 pence per ordinary share, the market capitalisation will be approximately £2.5bn. Ithaca Energy is one of the largest independent oil and gas companies in the UKCS. The Company will target a free float of at least 10% of its issued share capital and expects to be eligible for inclusion in the FTSE UK indices. OTAQ plc, (OTAQ.L) has joined the Access Segment of the AQSE Growth Market from the Standard Segment of the Official List. OTAQ has three divisions, i.e., Aquaculture, Geotracking Devices and Offshore and the gross proceeds of £3.6m will provide the Company with sufficient working capital for at least the next 12 months, strengthen the balance sheet and support the next stage of growth organically and through acquisitions. Leavers: No leavers today. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen?** One Health Group plc, intends to join the AQSE Growth Market. The group provides medical services, in the form of elective surgical care, to support the NHS in the management of patients, through a growing network of community-based outreach clinics and independent hospitals. One Health is a cash generative and profitable company, with an adjusted EBITDA for the year ended 31 March 2022 of £1.2m, on revenue of £17.5m. Due 24 November 2022. Life Sciences REIT plc (LABS.L), the AIM listed real estate investment trust focused on UK life science properties, announces that, in accordance with the intention expressed at the time of the Company's initial public offering on AIM, the board has determined to apply for the Company's existing ordinary shares to be admitted to listing on Premium Segment of the Main Market. The Company's admission to trading on AIM will be cancelled with effect from Admission. Anticipated early December 2022. Looking Glass Labs, a Company engaged in digital agency specialising in immersive XR metaverse design, non fungible token architecture and virtual asset royalty streams, intends to join the AQSE Growth Market. Looking Glass Labs is currently listed on the NEO Exchange (Canada). 14 November 2022. BWP REIT, a newly formed single asset company, announces its intention to raise £35m through the issue of 35m ordinary shares at the issue price of £1 per share, to acquire Bridgewater Place, an office-led mixed use property situated in central Leeds and valued at £63m. BWP REIT will apply for listing on the Wholesale Segment of the International Property Securities Exchange (PSX). 10 November 2022. World Chess plc, a leading chess organisation, intends to join the Main Market. World Chess Plc is the holding company of a group which aims to promote the mass market appeal of chess globally through the commercial offering of chess related activities. Euro 8m to be raised. Expected November 2022. TECC Capital plc, to be renamed EDX Medical Group, intends to join the AQSE Growth Market. EDX operates a molecular biology and diagnostics laboratory in Cambridge, UK, from which it performs research & development, provides Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing and genomic sequencing services, undertakes quality assurance and has established expertise in the design, development, validation and sourcing of Lateral Flow Tests on a commercial scale. 14 November 2022. Our daily digest of news from UK listed Small and Mid caps Banquet Buffet*** accesso Technology Group 646p £267.2m (ACSO.L) The premier technology solutions provider for attractions and venues worldwide, announces a 5-year extension to its partnership with Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, one of the largest regional amusement-resort operators in the world. Cedar Fair will continue leveraging the fully hosted accesso Passport eCommerce ticketing suite which has powered online sales for all the operator's venues since 2011. This agreement with Cedar Fair is the latest example of a long-term extension for accesso with leading industry operators. In September 2022, accesso announced a 5-year contract extension with Australia's largest theme park operator, Village Roadshow. Atalaya Mining 280p £391.7m (ATYM.L) The producer of copper concentrates and silver by-product at its wholly owned Proyecto Riotinto site in Spain, announce its third quarter results ended 30 September 2022. Revenue in Q3 2022 was down 23% to EUR 82.3m due to lower copper prices. EBIDTA was negative EUR 4.3m due to high electricity prices and other input cost inflation. CEO Alberto Lavandeira indicated that electricity prices have decreased by around 40% in Spain since the end of Q3 and expects that costs will moderate in Q4 2022. In 2023, the company will benefit from its new long-term power purchase agreement and the start-up of a 50MW solar plant, which will together provide around 50% of its requirements at competitive rates. Berkeley Energia 15.75p £66.6m (BKY.L) The mining exploration company announce that it has established an Advisory Committee to the Board of the its 100% owned Spanish subsidiary, Berkeley Minera España S.L.U. (BME), which holds the Salamanca Project. The Advisory Committee is comprised of Miguel Riaño, Rafael Miranda and Jaime García-Legaz, all prominent and well-regarded Spanish businessmen with extensive networks. The Advisory Committee will substantially strengthen Berkeley's position in Spain as the Company continues to resolve resolving the current permitting situation with the Salamanca Project. Gelion 59p £63.8m (GELN.L) The Anglo-Australian energy storage innovator announce its audited results for the year ended 30 June 2022. Total income was £1.7m, up 7%, primarily from R&D incentives from the Australian Taxation Office. Operating losses increased to £9.1m (2021: (£1.8m)) as a result of non-recurring items £4.7m (2021: nil) and increase in operating costs. The total of cash and cash equivalents and term deposits was £17m as at 30 June 2022. Gelion is bringing its brinzinc-bromide batteries from the laboratory to first industrial production, with the commissioning of the manufacturing plant in September 2022 at Battery Energy Power Solutions in Western Sydney, Australia. PCF Group 0.35p £1.2m (PCF.L) The motor vehicle and equipment financing company announces the outcome of its strategic review. The Directors have now concluded that it is in the best interest of all stakeholders to commence a process of withdrawing from the UK banking market. As a result, PCF Bank will not be recommencing lending and will therefore manage its loan and savings portfolio positions down over time in line and at some stage look to sell all or parts of its loan portfolio. The Board is also proposing to cancel the admission to trading on AIM. PPHE Hotel Group £12.75 £542.8m (PPH.L) The international hospitality real estate group announces that art'otel London Battersea Power Station, the Group's first UK managed art'otel, will open its doors to guests on 12 December 2022, with the highly anticipated full launch in February 2023. This is the first of several new art'otels scheduled to open in London, Rome and Zagreb. art'otel London Battersea Power Station will be joined by art'otel London Hoxton in early 2024. Physiomics* 2.35p £2.3m (PYC.L) The provider of technology-based solutions to predict the effects of cancer treatment regimens for the biopharma industry, announces that it is participating in the 37th Annual Meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), on 8-12 November 2022 in Boston, USA. Physiomics will be presenting an original poster entitled: Establishing the preclinical PKPD relationship for NM32-2668 a ROR1 targeting T cell engager. PYC is co-authoring the poster with client Numab Therapeutics, whose investigational drug NM32 is currently in IND-enabling studies. The pharmacokinetic and pharcodynamic models developed by Physiomics provides quantitative confirmation of the mechanism of action of NM32-2668. The model will support the establishment of a first-in-human starting dose and a strategy to enable clinical effective dose selection. Sareum Holdings* 107.5p £73.2m (SAR.L) The biotechnology company developing next generation kinase inhibitors for autoimmune disease and cancer, announces that the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has given notice that it has not been able to approve the Clinical Trial Authorisation (CTA) to evaluate the safety and tolerability of its lead programme SDC-1801. Sareum and its advisors are seeking additional clarification from the MHRA and will provide an update on next steps for resubmission as soon as possible. Vela Technologies 0.029p £4.6m (VELA.L) The investing company focused on early-stage and pre-IPO disruptive technology investments, notes the announcement by Conduit Pharmaceuticals Limited that it intends to become a publicly traded company on NASDAQ via a merger with Murphy Cannon Acquisition Corp., a NASDAQ-listed special purpose acquisition company. Vela holds an economic interest in the commercialisation of a particular application of AZD1656, one of the assets of Conduit. Windar Photonics SUSPENDED (WPHO.L) The technology group that has developed a cost efficient and innovative LiDAR wind sensor for electricity generating wind turbines, announces that it has entered into a distribution agreement with a partner in China for the Windar 4-beam WindVISION LiDAR system. Management estimates that the agreement will, over its term, generate revenue in excess of EUR1.4m, with 85% payable ahead of delivery. Windar Photonics is also publishing a circular today for a proposed placing to raise approximately £2m.
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Windar Photonics, the LIDAR technology group, has announced that it has received the first volume order under its global distribution agreement with Vestas Wind Systems A/S. The order is for 110 of the latest generation WindEye systems for a wind farm located in North America, with delivery expected to commence during the first quarter of 2022. Over the past two years Windar has been trailing its product with the V82 and NM82 turbine models used at this wind farm site. Windar has been able to demonstrate material yaw-alignment optimisation increasing annual energy production by more than 3%, and a reduction of wind turbine loads and alarms resulting in less downtime in high wind speed periods. With this unique solution now in place, Windar Photonics A/S, will work with its partners and customers to offer this unique solution to the roughly 6GW of global installed capacity of V82 and NM82 turbines
Interim results show 11% revenue growth over 2020 and an order intake of €0.9m. It has been another tough period for Windar where the company continues to be affected by ongoing delays primarily attributed to travel restrictions impacting end-user projects. Updated guidance implies revenues for FY21 of €1.93-2.00m, which is substantially below our previous expectations of €3.7m. Whilst disappointing, and we are now withdrawing our FY22/FY23 forecasts, this guidance implies the company should be able to generate cash from operations in H2/FY21. With several significant orders still in the pipeline the company continues to look close to a turnaround. However, the timing and quantum clearly remain uncertain, and we believe it is best to update our model, expectations and valuation when these orders are completed, and we have greater visibility.
Windar Photonics has announced its FY20 results which were marginally ahead of expectations. In the results statement it notes it has continued to be affected by project and delivery delays in the first part of 2021, but that it expects to see a substantial revenue increase in FY21 with this based on the orderbook at the start of the year, as well as the expectation to receive significant new orders in the near term. In particular it has strong expectations for initial volume orders/deliveries under its distribution agreement with Vestas, some of which have been in negotiation since February. We maintain our expectations going forward but reduce our recommendation to HOLD as the share price has reached our current valuation. We hope to increase our valuation once Windar announces the completion of new order contracts as these will help provide certainty over expectations for this year and reduce the associated risk weighting in our valuation.
Windar Photonics has announced that it has entered into a new four-year development project focused on developing a drone-based emission detection system. The project brings together five private companies and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), has a total budget of €2.2m and is backed by a public grant of €1.7m from the Innovation Fund Denmark, under its Grand Solutions programme. The aim of the Development Project is to develop a mobile, cost-efficient laser-based gas sensor for remote sensing of important greenhouse gasses such as CO2 and CH4, and at a later stage, NH3 and H2O. The core detection is based on the current LIDAR technology developed by Windar. The business model will be based on the same concept as Windar's Lidar-as-a-Service - LaaS, which was launched at the beginning of 2021 towards the wind turbine industry, whereby revenue is expected to be generated based on delivery of cloud based key environmental data reports.
Since inception Windar Photonics has achieved over €9m sales, proving to a highly conservative customer base of wind farm asset owners and turbine manufacturers the value of its technology. Whilst the company has faced a number of challenges over the past few years, we see strong indicators that it is near an inflection point towards sales growth and profitable trading. This includes a growing order book, repeat OEM sales and initial sales by Vestas Service which could unlock significant orders from Independent Power Producers (IPPs). We see Windar as undervalued, and that demonstration of the path to profitability in the coming months should lead to a significant revaluation, as the company's technology offers highly-attractive low-carbon energy economics. We initiate with a Buy recommendation and 25p target price.
Edison Investment Research is terminating coverage on Abacus Health Products (ABCS), ADL Bionatur (BNT), ASIT Biotech (ASIT), GAME Digital (GMD), International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO), Powerhouse Energy Group (PHE), Windar Photonics (WPHO). Please note you should no longer rely on any previous research or estimates for these companies. All forecasts should now be considered redundant. Previously published reports can still be accessed via our website.
Windar Photonics posted record revenues and got close to EBITDA break-even during FY18. Management expects current customer projects with Vestas and continued demand in Asia to drive further growth in the retrofit segment during FY19. It also expects volume deliveries to OEMS to commence in the near future, but we exclude these from our estimates.
Windar’s revenues from product sales grew by 80% year-on-year during FY18, enabling it to reduce EBITDA losses from €1.2m to €0.4m. Growth was slower than expected because of supply chain issues. Although these issues have now been resolved, they have a knock-on effect on follow-on orders for FY19, so we reduce our estimates for both forecast years.
United Oil & Gas (UOG.L) an oil and gas exploration and development company brought to the Official List (Standard Segment) in July 2017 by way of a reverse takeover of Senterra Energy plc. No capital to be raised, expected market cap of £17m and expected 28 Feb Techniplas –global producer and support services company providing highly engineered and technically complex components, making the supply chain to original equipment manufacturers more efficient. FYDec17 rev $515m.
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H118 has started well with 33% y-o-y jump in revenues taking Windar close to EBITDA breakeven. The distribution agreement with Vestas announced in June should help drive sales to independent power providers (IPPs) globally. However, a shortage of key components in Q218 means the company has issued FY18 revenue guidance of €4.0–4.5m, which is significantly below our previous estimate. We revise our estimates and adjust our indicative valuation from 125p/share to 124p/share.
Windar Photonics has signed a global distribution agreement with wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems. Vestas will now be selling and marketing Windar’s two-beam LiDAR system as a retrofit after-sales solution to the wind industry. The agreement is supportive of our estimates, which we leave unchanged.
FY17 was a pivotal year for Windar. An order for 300 units towards the year-end helped drive a doubling in revenues and suggests that the wind turbine industry is beginning to adopt its wind measurement technology. We leave our estimates and indicative valuation of 125p/share broadly unchanged, noting the potential for a substantial rise in indicative valuation once management is able to announce that the technology has been designed-in by turbine manufacturers, which is a key catalyst for volume deployment.
Windar’s patented low-cost, nacelle-mounted wind measurement system increases wind turbine efficiency and reduces operational wear. This is attractive to independent power producers (IPPs) and wind turbine OEMs as the constant change in power tariffs and government subsidies means there is increased emphasis on minimising the total cost of energy through increasing productivity per turbine and extending turbine life. Windar already has over 250 pilot installations worldwide. We reinstate our estimates, with deliveries now reaching c 5k units in FY20, rather than FY19 previously. The announcement in December of a transformational contract for 300 LiDAR for volume installation on wind parks in China gives greater confidence that the industry is finally beginning to adopt Windar’s proposition of integrating LiDAR into individual wind turbines.
Following the announcement of a transformational contract on 4th December, Windar Photonics issued two announcements later in the month regarding orders related to wind turbine OEMS. Although neither order was of the scale of the earlier transformational contract which was primarily for retrofitting turbines already in the field, they demonstrate the interest OEMs are showing in the technology, which will potentially lead to strong growth in future. We will update our estimates following the pending pre-close trading update.
Cradle Arc—holding company of a group of companies focused on the exploration and development of precious and base metals projects in Africa. Offer raising £2.4m with market cap of £20.25m. Expected 10 Jan 2018 Volex VLX.L—The global provider of cable assemblies is proposing to move from the main market to AIM on 19 January. £75m market cap. FYMar18E rev £241.5m and £7.19m PBT. OnTheMarket—Intention to float on AIM to raise c.£50m which will be used to fund the growth of the OnTheMarket.com portal, already the third biggest UK residential property portal provider. Expected valuation £200m to £250m.
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Windar Photonics has received a follow-on order from one of its Chinese distributors for 300 WindEYE LiDAR systems. The first 50 are for delivery this month, the remaining 250 during H118. Management believes that there is potential for significant follow-on orders in H218. The financial details have not been disclosed, but we calculate that this order represents two to three times as many LiDAR systems as were shipped in either FY16 or H117. We will update our estimates shortly.
Windar’s H117 results show €1.3m revenues for the six-month period ahead of those achieved in the whole of FY16, while the cost base realignment during H216 resulted in a 71% reduction in EBITDA losses to €0.4m. Our estimates and valuation remain suspended until there is more clarity on test programmes with independent power providers (IPPs) and wind turbine OEMs converting to volume sales.
Windar has recently completed a subscription raising £1.25m (gross) at 82p/share. The funds from the placing will be used to support growth during H217. Our estimates and valuation remain suspended until the interims, when there should be more clarity on test programmes with independent power providers (IPPs) and wind turbine OEMs converting to volume sales.
During FY16 Windar took some important strategic steps in rolling out its innovative LiDAR: implementing additional functionality to enlarge the addressable market and modifying its sales channels to focus on the IPP market. While y-o-y revenue growth of 26% was lower than management guidance, the results show substantial reductions in the cost-base and lower losses. Management note that recent order wins are likely to result in high double digit revenue growth during H117 and the company approaching EBITDA breakeven. We are withdrawing our estimates and valuation until the interims when there should be more clarity on test programmes converting to sales.
Windar Photonics’ H116 results show that customer engagement is intensifying, but is not translating into revenues at the rate management had hoped for. The company has taken action to reduce cash burn and speed up the sales cycle. Management notes that these delays will affect H216 and FY17, so we have revised our estimates and indicative valuation.
Windar’s FY15 results were in line with our forecasts, but lower than the expectations at the time of the IPO in March 2015 because of issues with the distributor in China, which is a key market. These issues appear to have been resolved and we expect renewed activity in China to lead to a ramp-up in sales, beginning in H216. The subscription and factoring arrangement announced in May 2016 remove the funding gap identified in our previous note.
Our valuation analysis is based on a DCF reflecting a series of potential outcomes related to market penetration and consequent volume benefits. This yields a range of fair values between £35m and £107m (excluding the impact of any FY16 funding). Receipt of further volume orders should act as a catalyst towards our midcase fair value of £57m, which is based on the roll-out modelled in our estimates.
